


Second Chance at Soulmates

by cojosts, inSarahslife



Category: Saturday Night Live, Saturday Night Live RPF
Genre: Abuse, Alex is an asshole, Angst, Happy Ending, I cried while writing this, M/M, Mikey needs a hug, Physical Abuse, Soulmate AU, arcade dates, b+w soulmate au, dillam
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-19
Updated: 2018-07-20
Packaged: 2019-06-13 04:42:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 17,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15356499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cojosts/pseuds/cojosts, https://archiveofourown.org/users/inSarahslife/pseuds/inSarahslife
Summary: This couldn't be right. Alex was supposed to be Mikey's soulmate. They were supposed to be pefect for each other. Then why was Alex being such an asshole? When Mikey made the move to break away from Alex and all color drained from his world, he thought all hope was lost. At least, until he met Taran.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The setting is in a world with the soulmate au trope: you see the world in black and white until you meet your soulmate. Then you see everything in full color.
> 
> Hey so I love this whole au with my entire heart and I hope you guys do to! It gets real angsty real fast but oh boy I love pain.

12:00. 12:30. 1:15 am. Alex was sitting alone at the dining room table, staring at his phone, just waiting. He grew angrier at each minute that passed where Mikey was not home yet. He told him specifically to be home by midnight and he went ahead and disobeyed Alex’s request.

By 1:20 am he heard keys in the front door, and a happy looking Mikey stumbled in. The grin was wiped off of his face immediately when he noticed Alex's expression.

“Hey man, sorry I’m late. We lost track of time and then our Uber got lost on the way here.” Mikey apologized to Alex.

Mikey could see Alex clench his teeth and he cringed a bit. Alex stared at the table, still not looking up to Mikey "Midnight. Remember?"

“I wasn’t intentionally late. I’m sorry, Alex, I should’ve checked in with you”

Alex stood up slowly "You should've.." Mikey stepped back a foot "Listen, I'm sorry"

“You should’ve had your eye on the time so you could be home on time. You know, you really fucking upset me when you don’t listen to me Mikey. That was my one thing. Be home by midnight.” Alex was creeping forward and Mikey was stepping backwards until he was pressed against the wall.

Mikey tried to make himself as small as possible, just now realizing how close Alex was. "I...I didn't mean to I swear. I promise it'll never happen again"

“You said that the last time. I don’t believe you.” Alex glared hard at Mikey.

Mikey could feel Alex's eyes pierce into him, but somehow, he got a surge of confidence "I'm sorry...I'm sorry I have friends Alex. Am I not allowed to hang out with them?"

Alex was taken aback for a moment. “You’re not now because you were late. You can’t see them again until I say you can.”

Mikey was getting fed up at this point "This is bullshit, Alex. Who said you were in control of me?"

“I did. And watch your tone with me.” He spat.

Mikey softly punched the wall behind him "Fuck this. I'm going to bed"

Alex grabbed Mikey’s hand and held his grip hard while he prevented him from walking away. “No you’re not.”

"What, I can't sleep now? Get your hands off of me"

“I’m not done talking to you.” Alex forcefully shoved Mikey.

Mikey hardly knew what to say when he felt the intention behind Alex's hands. "Listen. I'm going to bed..Please?" He said quietly, just wanting the situation to be over with.

“Here we go with the not listening thing again. I already told you no.” Alex repeated in a firmer tone than before.

"What do you want from me?" Mikey asked, exasperated "Am I just supposed to stand out here all night?"

“God dammit Mikey!” Alex shouted unleashing his built up anger and taking a swing at Mikey. His knuckles split Mikey’s lip open. “When I say be home at midnight you better be home at midnight!”

Mikey stumbled back towards the wall, barely processing what just happened. He lifted one hand up to his mouth and pulled it back to see blood on his fingers "Alex what the _fuck_ ... No what the FUCK ALEX. _This is not okay_." 

“Well, Jesus, you should’ve thought of that before you ‘lost track of time’.” Alex folded his arms defensively

Mikey glared back at him "Really? You think that because I accidentally stayed out a bit too long that you can _fucking beat me?_ Grow up Jesus Christ." Mikey muttered out, realizing now how badly it hurt.

“It’s not about you being late it’s about you not listening to me.”

"Give me one good reason that I should have to listen to you" Mikey spat out, "Asshole.."

“You better watch watch your saying or it might happen again.” Alex threatened, his eyes going dark.

Mikey wiped the rest of the blood off of his lower lip, and he _broke_ "You know what? Fuck this. Fuck you. _I'd rather have to live in black and white than have to be with you_

" As soon as the words left his mouth, Mikey saw everything...drain. It wasn't an instant transition, but quite quickly, all color was leaving his world.

Alex’s eyes widened while he observed the colors around him changing to black and white. “Take it back, Mikey, take it back!” Alex pled, trying to maintaining his composure.

It all happened so suddenly and Mikey wasn’t entirely sure if he regretted saying it. He stepped back further away from Alex still, running everything over in his head " _No. I won't._ "

“Please!” Alex’s voice broke as tears threatened to run from his now-gray eyes. He placed his hands on Mikey’s shoulders and shook him slightly.

Mikey shrugged his hands off "I told you not to touch me.." He responded in a quiet voice.

“Fine fine, just take it back” Alex held his hands up defensively and backed up a half step.

Mikey gave him a curious look. He didn’t want to get dragged in for this shit to happen over and over again. "Do you even actually give a shit? Did you just want me so you weren't colorblind?" Mikey asked genuinely, afraid he already knew the answer.

“O-of course I care about you! I love you!” Alex said, praying that he sounded convincing.

Mikey saw a flash of color, and he was sure Alex could see it too because he got this..smile on his face. A smile that seemed like he was getting what he wanted. Mikey could tell all in that one single look that he was bullshitting him "You don't. Did..did you ever?"

“Yes Mikey!” Alex rolled his eyes and responded with pure annoyance “I love you now come come on!”

Mikey gave him a look of disgust. He could see right through him. "You can boss me around. You can abuse me but for _fucking once_ , can you not lie to me? You don't want me. You never did. So what, we were 'destined' for each other? Apparently destiny wasn't aware that you were a piece of shit" 

“Don’t forget that if you end things you will never see color ever again.” Alex growled at him.

It was then when Mikey knew he'd made the right choice " _Good_." Over the past few minutes, the quality of everything had been fading out and wavering, flashing in here and there. But after that one word, it was solidified.

“You are such a piece of shit!” Alex shouted and punched the wall in anger of becoming color blind again.  
“You’re never gonna meet someone who can give you the things I gave you.”

Mikey glared at him again "What things? Emotional trauma and bruises? I hope the hell not!"

“Oh believe me I took it easy on you. Besides you deserved it”

Mikey could feel his eyes welling up "Fuck you, Alex.."

“No Mikey, fuck you. I cannot fucking believe what you did.” Alex furiously exclaimed.

Mikey stared him down, he could feel the tears openly running down his cheeks "I don't exist for you, Alex" 

Alex got _pissed_ when he heard this and harshly grabbed Mikey’s wrist "Yeah you do, remember? That's the whole point you, moron"

“No,” Mikey ripped his wrist away. “I don’t. Not anymore.” His heart was beating faster as he tried to stand his ground.

Mikey could see Alex's fists ball up "What, now you think you're better than me or some shit?"

“I _know_ I’m better than you.” Mikey swallowed hard, anticipating the worst from Alex’s temper because of his response.

Before he knew what was happening, he saw this _look_ in Alex's eyes and his fist was connected to his face again. Mikey got knocked to the ground. He thought his nose might be broken..He was sure he had a black eye.

Something snapped in Mikey’s head where he had finally had enough. He pushed himself off the floor and drew his arm back to add momentum and punched Alex in the mouth.  
Alex stumbled backwards, touching his lip in shock. Mikey noticed blood dripping down his face, although he was still somewhat shocked to see it run gray rather than in a bright red.

"Who the hell do you think you are?"

“I’m not putting up with this anymore. I’m doing what I should’ve done from the beginning. We’re done.” Hitting Alex gave Mikey an extra boost of bravery.

Mikey thought Alex was going for another swing at him, but he punched the wall instead, leaving cracks under his knuckles "You know what?! Fine! Leave. See if I fucking care. I never want to see you again"

“Go fuck yourself, you pathetic excuse of person.” Mikey turned and made his way to the door.

As soon as Mikey left, he made a beeline for the elevator. Everything was blurry and he wasn’t used to seeing without color. He heard the apartment door open behind him. He kept briskly walking, not even sure if Alex was following him or not.

“No one is ever going to want you because of this. Just remember that.” Alex’s voice was dark and threatening from his doorway of his apartment.

Mikey didn’t say anything, that's just what Alex wanted. He kept walking to the elevator. When he got to it and pressed the button, it didn't open instantly. There was no way he was hanging out in the hallway for it, so he started his way down the stairwell.

“You’re going to be alone. Forever.” Alex reminded Mikey before he reached the door to the stairs.

Mikey stopped for a brief second before going to open the door. He whispered to himself, "So are you, asshole." He kept walking and walking and he didn’t stop until he had found a bathroom on ground floor he could wipe the blood off in.

He examined his face in the mirror. His right eye was swollen a bit. He raised his hand to examine his nose. The simplest touch made him cringe. He was sure it was broken but the last thing he wanted to do right now was to see literally anyone. He figured he should find a place to stay for the night. Obviously he wasn't staying here for a while.

He decided to walk to a hotel. It took him twice as long it normally should have. His mood seemed to diminish while he looked around him. The flowerbeds that bordered the Sullivan Street Park all looked the same to him.

He finally found a motel. ' _The same one I had to pick Alex up from in a fucking ambulance_ ' he thought to himself, mad that he ever did. Walking through the front doors, he saw a man at the desk, half asleep. 

"Any rooms open?" Mikey asked "I need a place to crash for a few nights" Mikey was sure the state of his face explained his situation pretty well.

“H-hi, yes we do. Are you okay?” The concierge asked, eyeing Mikey’s injuries to his face.

Mikey kept his attention plastered to the desk. He responded through gritted teeth "I'm fine.."

“Are you sure man? Your nose is really messed up.” He continued sympathetically. 

Mikey gave him a deep sigh. He was _really_ not in the mood to explain his situation right at the moment "It's fine. What room am I in?"  
The worker frowned but picked up a key and handed it to him. “Room 28. If you need anything at all, don’t hesitate to ask.”

Mikey nodded at him, grateful for the gesture "Will do..." and turned towards where his room was.

“I’m Taran by the way!” He smiled awkwardly over the desk, but regretted even opening his mouth when Mikey turned away.

Mikey got to his room and struggled with a key for a moment. It was much harder to tell now whether the door handle blinked red or green. Once he was inside, he kicked off his shoes and slammed the door behind him, never even turning on the lights before throwing himself into one of the beds.


	2. Chapter 2

Mikey woke up the next morning to a throbbing headache and knocking on the door. He tried to ignore it and fall back asleep but the person wouldn’t quit. He eventually got up with a sigh, trudging to the door. He noticed his nose still hurt like hell.  
He opened the door and saw Taran from the front desk. He had a tray full of covered plates on it. 

“Hi.” Mikey grumbled, his eyes squinting to adjust to the light. 

“Hey man. We had some left over food from breakfast and I figured I’d offer you some instead of throwing it out.”

Mikey hardly knew how to react. He held up a hand to his temple, massaging the headache. "I uh...thank you. Come in I guess" he mumbled, knowing it would be awkward to turn him away.

“By the way,” Taran dug a bottle of aspirin out of his pocket and tossed it to Mikey who caught it. “These help out a lot with the pain.”

"Oh, thanks" Mikey said, still somewhat confused, but grateful. He sat down on the bed, and Taran sat the plates on the nightstand "I'm sorry..this is great and everything, but why?" Mikey asked, taking a few aspirin out of the bottle.

“What do you mean, why? You looked like you had a rough day yesterday so I figured you might need this.” Taran shrugged, taking the lids off revealing the remains of the different breakfast foods.

Mikey was almost about to get defensive towards Taran..until he smelled the bacon. It had been a while since he'd eaten "I...yeah. Yesterday wasn’t great. I don't know if today will be much better. How long can I rent out a room?" Mikey asked, not willing to tell him the whole story yet "I kinda need a place to stay for a little while"

“You can stay however long you want to. We have people do that all the time. I really hope that today is better than yesterday.” Taran grabbed a piece of sausage and took a bite out of it.

Mikey felt himself smile for the first time since he was at the club the night before. "Thanks, really. I appreciate all of this" Mikey grabbed a piece of toast off of one of the platters. He was doing fine until he got a knot in his stomach when he realized he'd have to stop by the apartment to grab his stuff.

“It’s no problem dude. If you need anything just ask. Things get pretty boring around here so I’m not ever really busy.”

"Will do.." Mikey looked over to Taran sitting on the other bed across from him. He was wearing slacks, a button-up, and a tie. He looked so put-together compared to Mikey.

“So I gotta ask...”

“Okay,” Mikey’s stomach sank because he knew what Taran’s question was.

“Who did you get in a fight with?”

Mikey took a deep sigh, trying to come up with some answer without going into too much detail. "Uh. It's my-it _was_ my-you know."

Taran gave him a few seconds to finish his thoughts, but when he realized who Mikey was talking about he felt terrible. “Oh shit. I’m so sorry I shouldn’t have brought it up. A-are you okay?”

Mikey felt like he was on the verge of tears again, remembering last night "I...I don't know honestly. He was my everything" He got that painful feeling in his stomach again "It hurts but I think I'm better without him..."

“Believe me if he did that to you, you are definitely better off without him. Screw him.” Taran didn’t want to overstep his boundaries with Mikey but he still had a strange urge to stand up for him.

"Yeah I let it go on too long." Mikey cut himself off, not wanting to talk too much about it. He had eaten only a bite of his toast and the whole time he'd been staring at the floor, avoiding eye contact with Taran. 

The two of them ate in silence for a few minutes before Taran awkwardly spoke up "So like..I'm sorry. And obviously you don't have to answer but did you, you know, lose your color?"

“Yeah, I did.” Mikey swallowed, trying to stop tears from falling by blinking them away. He knew it happened but it was strange telling anyone. A random bellhop was the last person Mikey thought he’d tell, but it felt like a weight was lifted from his shoulders.

Taran looked at him mournfully "I'm sorry that sounds terrible...happened to me. Years ago, actually." he said quietly, confessing his own experience and setting his plate to the side.

“Really? What happened?” Mikey’s ears perked up, but he instantly felt bad for seeming so excited. 

Mikey noticed Taran's face darken a bit. Nothing like the happy bellhop that had just brought him food. "It was just a bad situation...I think 'the fates' were bullshitting us...Grew apart I guess. Everything faded over the course of a month or so."

“Yeah you can say that again. Do you ever regret doing it? Like, you were almost willing to stay because of the colors?”

Taran smiled sadly at him, feeling a comforting weight about the fact that someone else knew what he went through "Honestly..yeah. I was close, but I don't think anything in the world could've really fixed the situation."

“So then how did you get through it? How do you get by knowing you’ll never see the colors again?” Mikey kept shooting questions at him, clinging onto the fact that they had the same experience.

Taran blinked slowly towards the ground, thinking about the question "Honestly...I just kinda dealt with it. You know, I've heard before that it's possible to regain it if you grow a strong connection with someone else, but I'm pretty sure that's just a wives' tale. I just try not to think about it too much..."

Mikey brightened for a second at the mention of any possibility of reversing his blindness. He also took note of the sound of desperation in his voice. He knew Taran wanted nothing more than to see in color again. Mikey felt that pain again. He wasn’t sure if it was because of the breakup or the fact that he was going to be just like Taran.  
"Huh...I've never heard about that" Mikey confessed, looking at the sadness in Taran's eyes "I'm sure that's rare"

“Hey, stranger things have happened. We just gotta keep tryin’ right?” Taran replied, attempting to raise Mikey’s hopes so he wouldn’t be as down as he was.

Mikey sighed "Yeah I guess you're right." He held a hand up to his head again, massaging his headache, finally taking a few aspirin that Taran gave him.

“Things will get better Mikey. I promise. It just takes some time.” Taran assured him.

Mikey nodded at him, but still didn't quite believe it. He didn't think he'd ever really get over everything about Alex. The good and the bad. Taran finally got up to make his leave, patting Mikey's shoulder on the way out "Remember, I'm always here if you need anything. I'm sorry about what happened"

“Thank you a lot, you’ve been really cool to me and I appreciate that.” Mikey thanked Taran with a small smile.

After Taran left his room, Mikey made his way into the bathroom to clean up. He still wasn’t used to seeing himself like that in the mirror. It had been years. The swelling of his nose went down a bit, but it still hurt to touch. His mind wandered toward his fight with Alex the day before. Mikey quickly pushed the thoughts of him away.  
He walked away from Alex. He was stronger than him for that. Mikey wasn’t going to let him bring him down anymore.  
He thought about when Alex would be going to work. When he could maybe sneak into their-Alex's apartment and take his stuff. Hopefully sometime soon, Mikey thought. He decided he would try to head over to the apartment now. He knew Alex would be leaving for work soon so by the time he gets there he should be gone, and it would be better to get it over with. 

The walk over seemed to take ages. And Mikey's heart was pounding all the while, hoping Alex wouldn't be home. He eventually found himself down the hall from the apartment. He never knew the hallway could be so long. Mikey was finally standing in front of the door and he had never been more nervous. He took a deep breath in preparation and pulled his key from his pocket, inserting it into the key slot and twisting the knob open. Mikey opened the door slowly, poking his head in before walking in, listening for someone.

Mikey deemed it quiet and closed the door behind him after he walked in. He sighed and took a good final look of the apartment. He wandered into the bedroom to start there but came to an immediate halt. Alex was getting dressed with his back to him.  
From the moment he saw Alex, everything _froze_. He wasn't sure if he should back away or run or confront him but he was on the verge of having a panic attack just from the fact that he was there.

He backed away slowly, not taking his eyes off Alex until he was out of the bedroom. He panicked and hid in the closet behind some jackets. He noticed his breathing was fast and short so he tried to calm himself down waiting for Alex to leave and praying he didn’t go in the closet.  
Mikey couldn't see anything, so he tried his best to listen for where Alex was, knowing he'd be dead if he heard him in there.

The closet door opened in front of him and Mikey was frozen again. He didn’t move a muscle while Alex grabbed for a coat and his face fell before turning to anger.  
“Mikey?!” Alex exclaimed.

Mikey sank back further into the closet, not even knowing how to explain himself. When he wasn't saying anything, Alex grabbed him by the collar and yanked him out.

"Oh, so you're spying on me now?!"

“I’m not spying on you,” Mikey held his hands up in surrender. “I was just coming to get my things.”

"Then why the hell are you in my closet?" Mikey could see the disgust in Alex's eyes after seeing him again "You know what? Whatever. I don't give a shit. Take your stuff and leave."

Mikey was taken aback. He was sure he’d be going back to the motel with another injury, but he was perfectly fine with the alternative. He hurried into the bedroom, wanting nothing more to be away from Alex. Once he made his way into the bedroom, he heard a loud slam from the front door, telling him that Alex had left. He took a few breaths, finally able to calm down a bit as he packed a suitcase. It killed Mikey as he packed his things, but he'd rather take them than leave them with that asshole.

He was just still hurting. He wished things weren’t like they were but he had no way of changing them. There was no way for him and Alex to live ‘happily ever after’. Or a way for him to ever see colors again. But he would live happily ever after with someone else one day. His mind went back to when Taran said that there was a myth about the possibility of regaining the ability to see colors in certain cases. Mikey couldn’t help have that thought in the back of his head.

Once he was sure he had everything-and he double checked he had everything-because he was _not_ coming back-he left the apartment for the last time. He took a sad last look at the place. There were so many fond memories born there but they all hurt to even think about.

He grabbed his keys from his pocket and struggled to get the apartment key off the ring. After a few seconds he managed to get it off and he placed it on the counter before walking out the door.  
When he finally shut the door behind him, it was like a chapter of his life was officially closing and he'd never felt so relieved. He figured his next move would be to return to the hotel to at least drop his stuff off.


	3. Chapter 3

Mikey hopped in his car and the first song he heard on the radio reminded him of Alex. He fought the urge to tear up at the lyrics but he decided to just change the song instead. He wasn’t worth crying over. He pulled up at the hotel just a few minutes later. Part of him of hated now that it was within walking distance to the apartment, but Taran had been so nice to him so he figured he'd at least give it a chance.

He grabbed a few of the bags from his backseat and made his way into the hotel. His eyes dashed to Taran who was behind his desk on the computer. Taran flashed a smile to him when he saw Mikey was in the room.  
Taran noticed the few extra bags and pieced everything together. Mikey seemed to be handling them well enough, but they did seem a bit heavy so he spoke up "Would you like me to help carry your bags to your room?"

“Nah, I got it,” he said before one of the straps of one of the bags broke and it fell to the ground. Taran chuckled to himself before he went pick up the bag and taking one from Mikey so he wouldn’t have the load. Mikey looked frustrated with himself, but he said a grateful "Thank you" as him and Taran started walking to his room.

“It’s no problem.” Taran assured him. “You doing okay?” He looked down at the shorter man walking next to him.

Mikey sighed, honestly not sure "I think so..I'm glad to be out of there finally"

“Look, I know it’s not saying much because we just met but I’m proud of you for doing that. It was for the best. And now you don’t have his weight holding you down.”

"Me too.." Mikey said, appreciating Taran's words. He set down his bag to pull his room card out of his wallet and swipe it before opening the door, propping it open with his foot. "Thanks again."

“You don’t have to thank me for that, you would’ve gotten there eventually.” Taran flashed a confident smile to Mikey before brushing past him into his room.  
Taran set Mikey's suitcase beside his bed and stood there for a moment, really wanting to be there for Mikey and not quite ready to leave him alone again.  
“So what do you have going on for the day?” Taran asked. He had no plans for the rest of the day. He had been debating for a while if he was going to ask Mikey if he wanted to hang out. He didn’t want it to seem weird though.

Mikey hardly had the energy to hang out with anyone, but he knew it'd be good for him, and Taran was all he had at the moment so he might as well make the best of it. "Not too much other than wallowing alone in this room."

Taran looked at his watch; he had another three hours left in his shift.   
“Well I’m done with my shift now, if you want some company, I got nothing going on, I’ll be more than happy to spend some time with you. Plus, I can go into our kitchen again and grab some food and mini alcohol bottles.”

Mikey took a second to think about it before a small smile grew on his face "That sounds nice. You wanna go somewhere? Or what does this hotel have to offer?" Mikey asked him, half-jokingly, knowing the hotel wasn't anything special.

“We can do that. There’s a few bars, a bowling alley, and an arcade all around here so the choice is yours.”

Mikey's ears perked up at the sound of an arcade. He knew it was childish, but damn he was tired of being an adult at the moment.  
“The arcade sounds cool if you’re okay with that.” Mikey decided. 

“Then to the arcade we go! I have to go to clock out but I’ll meet you by the front desk and I can drive us over.”

Mikey nodded at him "I'll meet you there in a few." He led Taran out of the room before closing it so he could be alone for a moment and collect himself ' _He's really nice but he's probably just pitying me._ '  
He sighed and began to get ready to leave. He slid his shoes on and stood by his bags. He was contemplating on if he should bring a hoodie or not. He eventually decided that it shouldn’t be too cold in the arcade so he skipped it. 

By the time he made it out to the lobby, Taran was waiting for him and he had changed into street clothes. Taran's constant smile was almost too much, but damn if it wasn't infectious. "Hey again."

“We gotta hurry, my boss doesn’t know I’m leaving early.” Taran said, his eyes exploring the room for his boss. 

“Wait I thought your shift was over?”

“I was technically scheduled for another 3 hours, but hanging out with you sounded a lot better than being here.” Taran grabbed Mikey’s hand and hurried him out of the hotel with a mischievous smile.

Mikey almost felt bad, but he felt his face heat up at the thought of Taran skipping just to hang out with him. Taran led him to his car and Mikey hopped in the passenger's side. "Thanks man, you know you didn't have to"

“Mikey with the amount of hours I’ve put in that place, they can handle me being gone for a few hours. Besides, I’ve got some coworkers covering for me.”

Mikey started to breathe a bit easier and was getting kind of excited "Sounds good. Where's this place anyways?"

“It’s a few miles out of town. I’m pretty sure it hasn’t been touched since like 1992, but that gives it a nice nostalgic aesthetic to it. They have a bunch of dinky kids toys as prizes but it’s a lot of fun.”

Mikey buckled up and smiled at the thought "Sounds fun, can't wait." Taran smiled and nodded at him before backing out and pulling out of the parking lot, still subconsciously keeping an eye out for his boss.

“Now I’m warning you ahead of time, I have the high score in Skeeball, so be prepared for your ass to be whooped.”

Mikey made a joking scoff noise but couldn't help in laughing just a bit "Oh it's on man."

When they got to the arcade, Taran and Mikey were like little kids again. They raced each other inside at full sprint (The only reason Mikey won is because he had a head start, according to Taran). Mikey opened the door and marveled at the rows of games.

Taran kept his promise in playing Mikey in a game of skee ball, but on the way over Mikey couldn't help but notice how much duller the arcade was. He kept trying to push the thought out of his mind ' _We're here to have a good time, alright?_ '  
He couldn’t push it away though. He’s used to seeing the different shades of neon and now he doesn’t see anything. Just gray. That’s how he was beginning to feel.  
He snapped out of the daze after Taran got an admittedly impressive score and turned back to him. Taran had noticed instantly that something was up with Mikey and he wasn't sure if it was something he did or not "You alright, Mikey?" Taran asked, fairly straightforward.

“Yeah, it’s nothing, I’m fine.” Mikey lied, pushing the gold token in the slot of the skeeball machine and the balls shot down to him. Taran took a step back as he watched Mikey play. Mikey almost looked angry at the machine but he beat Taran fairly easily.

“You sure you’re alright? You seem a little pissed. Did I do something wrong?” Taran questioned, backtracking on their day to see if he’d done something.

Mikey looked at Taran with a sad expression, feeling bad that he was coming off that way "No of course not! I'm sorry it's just....this place, ya know?"

The weight lifted from Taran’s shoulders but went to his stomach instead. He knew what he was talking about.   
“Yeah,” Taran’s voice was quiet. “I’m sorry maybe this wasn’t the best place to go when you’re getting used to everything.” He began feeling bad for bringing him.  
"It's fine. If this is what I'm dealing with now, I might as well learn to put up with it. Sorry I'm being such a downer.."

“You’re not being a downer, Mikey, it’s just learning to accept it for what it is. There’s not really another way around it ya know? I mean look at me, it’s been over 4 years since I’ve seen color. Yeah it sucks but you can’t just dwell on the fact that it’s gone. It’s gonna eat you alive and I don’t want to see that happen to you.”

Mikey nodded at him and took in a deep breath "So what else is there to play around here?"

“They have these basketball games where the hoop moves around and—Hang on.” Taran stopped in his tracks at the slew of crane game machines. “There’s this one machine that I’ve been trying to get a stuffed T-Rex from for the longest time, I gotta try again.” His eyes were glued to the biggest crane game machine in the arcade.

Mikey laughed softly and followed Taran who had already walked away from him "Aren't these things rigged?"

“No they’re not rigged. It takes skill. And you happen to be looking at America’s Best Crane Gamer. I’m getting that god damn T-Rex if it kills me.” Taran put the coin in and after the music began playing, he started positioning the crane over the dinosaur. It fell down and he had a hold on it for a second before it dropped to the other stuffed animals. “God dammit.” He huffed, fishing out another coin.

After another try, Mikey was invested "Come on man, you got this!" he encouraged Taran as he slipped in his third token.

Taran let a smile slip during his concentrated state at Mikey’s words. He adjusted the crane once more and then it fell to the T-Rex. It lifted in the air and was on its way to the shute. Taran and Mikey both exclaimed in excitement before it slipped the grasp once again and fell right next to the shute. “It was so close!”

"Damn it! Told you that thing was rigged. Try one more time, I believe in you" Mikey said half-jokingly, but also totally into it.

“I’m getting it this time.” Taran promised just as the claw was lowering and finally snagged the plush. He was ecstatic when he pulled it out of the prize drop down to show Mikey. “Look! After eons of persistence and hard work and your words of encouragement I finally got it!”  
Mikey jumped a bit in excitement when Taran pulled it out of the slot. In the back of his mind, Mikey was glad he was forgetting about all of his troubles.

Taran paused for a moment when he saw Mikey’s enthusiasm. His arm that was holding the T-Rex extended to Mikey. “Here, you keep him.”

Mikey probably blushed, not that either of them would be able to tell. "What? No way man, you've been trying to get that thing for ages. You've earned it"

“No seriously, I want you to have him. I have too many of them at my place. I wouldn’t be able to give him the home he needs.” Taran assured him with a wink.

Mikey stared at him for a moment, as if to double check before reaching out and grabbing it “Well thanks.. I love it”

“I’m glad that you do.” Taran smiled, looking at Mikey’s eyes for a few seconds. He then broke away to look at the machines surrounding him again. “So, what games do you   
like to play?”

“Anything really. It’s been ages since I’ve been to an arcade” Mikey looked around, aimlessly walking towards a Pac-Man machine.

“Well, if we hang out more, be prepared to be coming here a lot.” Taran was leaning against the machine next to his, observing both Mikey and the screen as Mikey started to play.

Mikey smiled to himself as he already moved on to the next level. It had been a while, but damn if he wasn't still great at Pac Man. "I'd like that.." 

“Damn, you’re pretty good at this game. I suck at Pac Man.” Taran chuckled, making some comment about how fast Mikey’s fingers were. 

Mikey died just a few seconds later. Halfway because he wanted to spend time with Taran, and halfway because he was distracted from those comments. "Damn it!" he pretended to act upset as he grabbed the few tickets that popped out.

“Crap! Nice game though! Do you want a slushie or something from the concession stand?” Taran asked, eyeing the booth a few feet away from them.

"Sounds great!" Mikey looked over, feeling like a little kid and loving it. "They have blue raspberry?"

Taran nodded and came back a minute or two later holding two slushies. He stopped and his eyes went back and forth between the cups. “Oh no, I got watermelon. I don’t know which is which.” he chuckled, slightly embarrassed.

Mikey grabbed one at random out of Taran's grip "I'll let you know in a second." He took a sip out of it before stating that the one in his hand was watermelon. He switched cups with Taran and the two sat down at a table. Mikey smiled at how cheesy the situation was. The two of them were practically on a date. He really enjoyed it though "Thanks again Taran, really."

“It’s no problem. This is actually the most fun I’ve had in a long ass time so it’s nice. We should do this again sometime, me and you.” Taran suggested to him

Mikey felt a small tingle at the way Taran said 'Me and you'. He really liked it. He responded almost a bit too eagerly "Yeah we should!"

Taran smiled at his answer. “Lemme see your phone, I’ll put my number in it.” Mikey pulled his phone from his pocket and handed it to Taran. Taran pulled up contacts and put his name as ‘Taran Killam :)’ before putting his number in and returning the phone to Mikey.

"Thanks, Taran. I'll definitely text you, but I'm not sure if I'll be leaving the hotel very much for the time being. I need to find a place, but the thought of it is exhausting."

“Yeah, but think of it this way. The more time you’re at the hotel, you’ll get to see me all the time. It’s a win-win!” Taran smirked.

Mikey was almost certain that Taran was flirting at this point, but he wasn't mad about it "I'm glad, really. I don't know what I'd do if I were completely alone." Mikey stared into his slushie again, knowing Taran was staring at him.

“Well, you’re not alone, you got me, so you don’t have to worry about it.” Taran started to slurp his slushie, scraping the bottom of the cup with his straw.

"And thanks again for the dinosaur" Mikey laughed as he just remembered it by his side "He can keep me company when you're not here."

“Well, as long as you name him after me then I’m cool with whatever he does.” Taran joked, smiling down at the dinosaur that was sitting next to Mikey. “Besides, it’ll give me a reason to come hang out with you. I’ll visit Little Taran too.”

Mikey laughed genuinely "Will do. I'll take good care of him. Promise."

“You ready to go or do you wanna stay a bit longer?” Taran asked, glancing at the time on his phone.

"We can go if you want" Mikey sunk back a tiny bit, still feeling somewhat bad that he stole Taran from work.   
When Taran noticed Mikey's mood shift again, he leaned forward and softened his voice "You know, I'm serious. I had a really nice time. You're something special, Mikey."

Mikey felt his face heat up and he looked down in embarrassment. His thoughts about Taran stopped immediately when he saw the blue of his slushie. With his heart racing, he blinked and the color was gone. His wide eyes shot to Taran who, by the looks of it, didn’t see anything.

"Woah woah woah, Mikey are you alright? What happened man, you look scared." Taran reached for Mikey's hand instinctively to calm him down

“You didn’t?..” Mikey mumbled, mostly to himself. “I-I thought I saw something but I guess I was wrong. I think I’m just tired and I’m probably seeing things.” Mikey tried to shrug it off. He remembered that Taran was holding his hand, he didn’t want to make it obvious that he was thinking about it but it sent butterflies through his body.

"You feeling okay? What did you see?" Taran asked him, still legitimately concerned. Mikey thought about telling him for a moment but then realized that it sounded ridiculous. 

There was no point if Taran didn't see anything. "Just a bug, sorry."

“Are you sure?” Taran questioned, not believing him the slightest. But he also didn’t want to push it with him. The last thing Taran wanted was for Mikey to feel uncomfortable with him.

Mikey was trying to steady his breathing, at least enough for Taran to not worry about him. He was just going to embarrass himself further if he kept this up "Yeah..nothing. I'm fine, really.." Mikey said quietly, not quite pulling his hand away from Taran’s yet.

“If you say so. We can head back to the hotel then if you want.” Taran pulled his hand away and pushed himself off the chair, tossing his cup into the nearby trash can. He was a little disappointed that Mikey didn’t really share what was going on but he figured it’d be best to give him his space with it. If it was important enough Mikey would talk with him about it.

It took Mikey a second for his thoughts to stop racing and to stand up. The nervous feeling in his stomach refused to go away and he couldn’t tell if he was happy, sad, or mad at the color. He wasn’t sure what it was, or if it was even real, but it scared him to death. If it was real, why didn’t Taran see it?

He stood up and threw away his now-empty drink, following Taran out to his car. "Sorry about that..Thanks again for this, really." He gushed out, reassuring to Taran that he did have a good time, despite the strange occurrence. 

“Anytime you wanna do it again, just hit me up. I’m always down to hang out.” Taran smiled to Mikey, fishing for his keys from his pocket and unlocking the car doors.

Mikey hopped into Taran’s car, waiting for him to get in his seat before saying "Yeah of course man, I had a blast."

After a few miles of Mikey’s mind was going haywire while simultaneously trying to make small talk with Taran. He decided he was going to tell Taran about what he saw. It was eating away at his mind, and he hoped Taran wouldn’t be too freaked out. “Can I tell you something?” Mikey blurted out, turning the radio down and staring out the window.

Taran was a bit concerned at the sudden change, but figured that it had something to do with what happened earlier, so he was intrigued "Of course Mikey, what's up?"

“Back when we were at the arcade, I think I saw something. I think I saw the blue of my drink. I know I sound crazy, but what if I did see a color? I mean, does that mean that we’re...?” He trailed off, eventually turning to look Taran deep in the eyes with concern.

Taran almost missed a stop sign when he heard Mikey say it. "Wait you think you _saw color_? That's amazing, man. I don't....I don't know. I didn't see anything. Was I supposed to?"

Mikey felt his heart break again; something he’d been growing used to the past few days. How could he have been so naïve? No. How could he have been so fucking stupid? He turned his head back to the road and tried to hide his face from Taran’s view. He blinked away tears that were building up.   
“You know, I’m sure I was just seeing things. It’s nothing. It’s stupid.” Mikey attempted to lie.

"No, I believe you." Taran tried to keep Mikey's hopes up "It's just...I didn't think it was possible".

“No, it can’t.” Mikey said firmly, mostly to convince himself to stop thinking it was.

“Besides, even if it could happen, why didn’t you see anything? Like I said before, it’s stupid.” He folded his arms over his chest in annoyance. He wasn’t irritated with Taran, he was irritated with himself for saying anything. Or for believing it could happen. He wanted to stop but there was still a strand of hope that kept him going.  
When Taran didn't respond for a few seconds, Mikey got quiet. "I'm sorry I said anything...Just being irrational." He was hoping the grayscale of everything was hiding the few tears that had made their way down his cheeks.

Taran stopped the car outside the hotel a few moments later and looked at Mikey sympathetically. He didn’t have the heart to tell him there was no use keeping his hopes up. He never had any hope after he lost his color. He just sorta gave up on it. It still killed him when he remembered it, and he didn’t want Mikey to feel that way. Once he placed the car in park, he wrapped an arm around Mikey’s shoulder and began rubbing it comforting him. 

“I’m sure you did see it Mikey, but I didn’t. Whatever it means, I’m not part of it. I’m not going to be the one who gives you colors again. I’m so sorry.” It killed Taran to say that, but he wanted Mikey to remain hopeful, just not hopeful for something that isn’t there.

Mikey took a few deep breaths, focusing on Taran's hand. "It's...it's fine. I shouldn't have put any pressure on you. I'm sorry I made a big deal out of it." He somewhat abruptly got out of the car, just wanting to retire to his room for a while. He heard Taran calling for him but he ignored it. going in the hotel and praying that he wouldn’t follow him inside. He felt so embarrassed and hurt from the events that just happened. Taran’s words were on repeat in Mikey’s head. ‘ _I’m not going to be the one who gives you colors again_ ’. He wanted it to stop.

He didn’t stop until he was in his room and the door was locked behind him. The words kept ringing along with the appearing and fading thoughts ' _No one will ever love you again' 'You're such an embarrassment' 'This is all your fault' 'If you had just dealt with Alex, this all would have been okay._ '  
His eyes met the mirror that was a few feet from him and he looked himself in the eyes. He felt disgusted with the person in front of him. He hated his reflection. He even contemplated calling Alex but he didn't want to give him the satisfaction.  
He stared for a while until the tears stopped. The thoughts didn't. He figured that he might as well lay down. That nothing good could come out of staring at himself and having a pity party. He was tossing and turning trying to get comfortable but it was useless. No matter what position he was in it still hurt. He still felt alone and like the biggest fuck up in the world. He hugged onto an extra pillow and curled into himself. He wasn't sure how long it had been. An hour. Maybe two. But he eventually fell asleep after the voices finally quieted.


	4. Chapter 4

Mikey woke up the next morning feeling groggy. Not sure what time it was. Barely sure where he was.  
His eyes scanned his surroundings and he sighed. This wasn’t at all how things were supposed to go for him. He wasn’t supposed to be living in a fucking hotel. He wasn’t supposed to lose his colors. And yet there he laid, in the cheap hotel bed and color blind again. He remembered yesterday and that glimmer of hope. _That fucking disgusting glimmer of hope._ Mikey felt sick to his stomach just remembering it. He tried to calm himself down, reminding himself that he'd just have to deal with it if this was his life.

He pushed the blankets off of him and climbed out of bed. He walked over to his bags that were placed in the corner of the room to get clothes for the day for him to change into. Before he could even start dressing, there was a knock at the door.  
He groaned and quickly slipped on some sweats over his boxers before going to open the door. He checked through the peephole first and saw Taran waiting nervously outside.  
He thought about ignoring him because of yesterday. He was really in no mood to feel humiliated again. But, he ended up hesitantly opening the door for him anyway.

Taran looked relieved when Mikey opened the door. Like he wasn't sure if he was going to or not. "Hey uh...good morning." He stated simply, not wanting to overstep boundaries if Mikey still felt uncomfortable.

“Hi, what’s up?” Mikey greeted, his voice still raspy from just waking up. His surface remained calm while the inside of him was nervous for what Taran was going to say to him. 

Taran moved one hand from behind his back to reveal that he was holding something-the toy from the arcade the day before. He pushed it out to Mikey with a shy smile. "I think you forgot something."

Somewhere deep down, Mikey knew he should’ve been nicer but he knew he had to distance himself from Taran so he scoffed and rolled his eyes. “I don’t want your stupid dinosaur, man!” He blurted out, causing Taran’s face to drop.

Taran went quiet, not sure what to say. He managed to get out a quiet, " _Oh_..I'm sorry."  
“Why are you even here? Seriously, what’s the point?” Mikey didn’t mean to be coming off the way he was but, he was just done with everything and everyone. He felt so numb from it all and he didn’t care anymore.

Taran stepped back a foot, genuinely concerned and somewhat scared "Mikey? Are you okay?"

"What does it fucking matter if I'm okay? I don't know why you're being nice to me."

“What? Why am I nice to you? Do you even hear yourself? I’m nice to you because we’re friends.” Taran explained with slight annoyance in his voice.

Mikey crossed his arms, not wanting to deal with Taran anymore. He was so fucking sick of the lies and the 'no really, I care about you!' mentality from people who had no intention of sticking around. "Listen. You don't have to deal with me just because you feel bad for me. I'm not checked into this hotel because I want a pity party. I just need a place to stay for a while, alright? That's it."

“I’m not _dealing with you_ , Mikey. Surprisingly, I care about you and want to make sure you’re okay. And honestly, you’re being kind of a dick to someone who wants to help you.” The sparkle in Taran’s eyes was slowly disappearing while his anger was growing.

"It's not your job to give a shit whether I'm okay or not. I never wanted any of this. I don't know why the hell you keep trying to talk to me. I don't want you, and I don't want your stupid fucking dinosaur, capisce?"

“Whatever, fuck you.” Taran laughed bitterly, shaking his head and walking away from Mikey to the elevator. He passed a garbage can on the way and angrily threw the stuffed dinosaur away. He paused for a second before turning back to Mikey. “You know, just a word of advice, you’re never gonna find someone if you treat them this way.” Taran wasn’t saying it to be mean, he was saying it because it was true.

The words hit Mikey hard, stinging directly into his chest and not letting up. He stared at the floor for a few long moments, listening to Taran walking away before turning back into his room and slamming the door behind him. Mikey, at this point, was pissed. Taran was the last person he would’ve thought would say that to him. He tried to push the thoughts out of his head because he wanted to stop thinking about Taran. His words kept repeating until Mikey chuckled dryly to himself. ‘ _And now another person hates me._ ’ He had accepted the fact that at this point he was probably going to be alone. He wasn’t happy about it but he couldn’t change the way others felt about him.  
He tried to clear his head and decided he should take a shower. He grabbed some clothes and went into the bathroom, taking another long look into the mirror before doing anything else.

His bruises from Alex were finally starting to heal for him but he didn’t recognize his reflection. Not because it wasn’t in color but because he felt like he was starting to become someone else.  
Mikey groaned and stepped over to the shower. (Not nearly as nice as the one he had back at the apartment, he noted.) He got undressed and turned it on. Stepping in and not giving a shit whether the water was cold or not. It was.

Shivering slightly, he let the water cool him off literally and figuratively. He just wanted to rewind his life to a few days ago and just _stop_ all this.  
When he stepped out after what seemed like forever, he sat on his bed, staring at the wall. He pulled on his underwear, but for the most part, he was only wrapped in a blanket. He thought back to the past few days..the past month. year even.. ' _This is all my fault. I could've changed this. everything would've been different if I just tried.._ '

He felt bad for the way things ended with Taran. It wasn’t how he wanted it to happen. If he was being completely honest, it hurt him almost as much as Alex did. He felt stupid for saying that considering he hadn’t known him long, but Taran had a way about him that made Mikey feel comfortable and safe. Well he _did_ , anyway.  
After almost an hour of blankly staring into nothing, thinking about everything, Mikey remembered the dinosaur. Lil' Taran. Taran was just trying to do something nice for him and he fucked it up. He stood up finally and went to the door again, double checking to make sure the hallway was empty before creeping out to find the trashcan it had been thrown in.

After accidentally going through the wrong can, he found the correct one. The stuffed T. rex was on the top of the trash. He smiled, remembering how he felt when Taran had given it to him. He picked it up, brushing any excess trash off that was on it, and brought it back into his hotel room. Mikey slouched in the uncomfortable corner chair with 'Lil Taran' in his lap. He smiled sadly down at it, and thought about the past day or so. About Taran. He really wasn't mad at him, but he was a mess at the moment and he didn't want to put Taran through that.

He was saving Taran from the pain and heartache of being with him. Mikey drove Alex so mad that he beat him. He thought Taran was too good of a person to be with. ‘ _I’m not worth it,_ ’ he thought to himself, over and over.

Later that afternoon, Mikey checked out of that hotel. Luckily, it was someone else at the front desk. He wasn't sure where he was going, but he wasn’t sure he could deal with seeing Taran every day.  
He found another hotel a few blocks away to stay in until he found somewhere to live. The check-in man was no way near as courteous as Taran was but that was probably expected. He couldn’t think of a friendlier person than him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is a shorter chapter but damn it still hurts. They can't be happy just yet.


	5. Chapter 5

It was less than a week before Mikey was able to score a cheap apartment. It was nothing fancy, but he was glad to finally be independent for the first time in too long.  
He forgot how much room there was in an apartment to himself, but the first time he walked in, it honestly felt a bit lonely. He knew he couldn’t move backward so he had to keep moving forward. The first few nights for him were pretty tough. He had been alone at the hotel, but this solidified that and he had trouble sleeping.  
He finally got back into a solid routine, returning to his job and trying to reconnect with some friends. He found it was hard though. After that night with Alex, he had grown distant with all of them. Lost faith and trust in many. It was still difficult for him to get used to the world in a grayscale. Every morning waking up was a stabbing reminder.

A little over a month had passed since he got his apartment, and some days were better than others for him. He was curled up on the couch in the dark. He was the only one he could count on and it got to him sometimes. His face was dimly lit by the face of his phone screen. He was endlessly bored and somewhat numb. There were no more apps to refresh. No friends to talk to. Nothing to do. He resorted to aimlessly scrolling through random apps on his phone. That led him to his contacts list.

He mentally made a note to clean out his contact list that was full of people he hadn't spoken to in years. One by one he went down each contact until his eyes were instantly fixated on one name in particular.  
There it was staring back at him. "Taran Killam :)". He tried his damn best to just forget about him, but no matter how hard he tried, he kept coming back to him. The name was almost taunting him, and there wasn't a part of him that didn't feel bad about the terms he left on. He couldn't stop looking at the smiley face. It was so... _nice_. It was so Taran, and it broke his heart thinking about that last "Fuck you" he heard from him before leaving.

The guilty sensation rose throughout him. He hesitantly pressed the contact name and opened up a text screen. He wasn't sure if he should try texting him. He wasn't sure if Taran would even respond to him if he did.  
He typed and deleted and retyped a simple " **Hey** " about a dozen times. He closed his eyes and hit send, hoping he wasn't making the wrong decision. Instantly, knots formed in his stomach and the panic was setting in. He thought of something that could maybe help calm him down. It had been shoved to the bottom of his suitcase, now in the closet. Mikey shuffled through some clothes to pull out the dinosaur plush, now slightly squished and dirty.

He brushed off the dust and other remnants that were on it and fluffed it up a bit to make it look better. Holding it in front of his face, Mikey smiled a bit at it before returning to the living room to see if his phone had gone off. His nervousness was still at it's high point, but he felt a little more confident with the stuffed dinosaur near him to keep him company. He pressed the home button on his phone and he saw that he'd gotten a text from Taran. 

" **Hiii! I have no idea who this is.** "

Mikey remembered that Taran never properly got his number. It was weird to think back at how brief their time together was. He couldn't believe he was doing this at all, but he quickly picked up his phone " **Oh, sorry. It's Mikey...** "

Mikey didn't even have time to put down the phone before Taran texted him back saying, " **Why are you texting me? I thought you didn't want to talk to me anymore.** "

He got the knot in his stomach again, but he wasn't really expecting this to go any different. He grabbed the plush again, hugging it for a moment before placing it in his lap. " **I'm sorry Taran...I'm so fucking sorry. You've been nothing but nice and you didn't deserve that. You never deserved any of that...** "

Mikey thought that Taran would've texted back something to him..something that only Taran could say to put a smile on his face. He waited, tapping the screen when it darkened after inactivity, checking every three or four minutes to see if he saw the typing bubbles. He saw _nothing_.

He tried to forget any of it ever happened. He regretted even trying to text him. He didn't know why he thought it might go any differently. Why did he think Taran might accept his apology? He ended up deleting their short conversation off his phone so he could have nothing to look at to remind him of it. He went back to Taran’s contact and hit the edit button. His eyes found the red delete button and his thumb was threatening to push it.

He couldn't make himself do it, but he went to edit the contact so it simply said "Taran K." The happy face was too close of a painful reminder to what he was actually like.  
Mikey was jumping at every sound his phone made to check and see if Taran had replied late. This went on for almost three hours after Mikey sent the last text message before he just turned off his phone to try and get a good night sleep. 

He didn't sleep particularly well, but he got some rest nonetheless. As soon as he woke up, he reached for his phone, searching for any notifications...Only a single spam email.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, sorry this is a short chapter, but the next one's longer!


	6. Chapter 6

On a cold spring day, Mikey found himself wandering the streets downtown searching for a coffee shop. His entire body was freezing despite the bright sun shining down on him. The temperature made it easier to forget about everything that normally went through his head because it was replaced by the prayers of going inside soon to get warm.  
He sighed gratefully as he stepped into a cozy looking shop. He got into line, looking at the menu although he already knew what he was planning on ordering. The line was much longer than he anticipated due to the lack of staffing at the counter. He got bored of looking on his phone and at the menu so his eyes started wandering to the other people there. He stopped when he saw a familiar face sitting at a table by himself drinking something and reading a book.  
He wasn't sure if it was him at first. It definitely looked like Taran, but he half-expected to never see him again. Instantly, his heart started pounding, debating whether he should try to talk to him or not.

He still felt guilty, even though Taran was the one that didn’t respond to him when he texted him last. ‘ _He didn’t want to talk to me then, why would he now?_ ’ Mikey thought to himself. 

“Good morning, sir, what can I get for you?” He hasn’t been paying attention and he was next in line. 

“Sorry,” Mikey muttered stepping up to the counter. “Just a medium coffee. And a cinnamon roll please.”

He found a table by himself, thinking he wanted to try to talk to Taran, but knowing had to psych himself up first. He didn't notice that Taran started looking around when he heard his voice. He didn't notice when Taran was staring at him when his name was called and he returned to his table with his drink.  
His leg was nervously bouncing and he stared at his drink trying to think of what to say to Taran. He thought about a lot of different possible outcomes and each one made him more nervous.

He finished his coffee and cinnamon roll fairly quickly, and stood to throw the cup away. He took a deep breath before walking towards Taran's table. His face was still in his book, and Mikey thought now was as good of a time as any.

“Hey, Taran,” Mikey shyly waved when he got to Taran’s table, before placing his hands in his pockets. He was hoping that Taran would respond to him and he wouldn’t look like an idiot for trying to talk to him.

Taran finished the paragraph he was on before tilting his book down and looking up to Mikey "Hi." He said, not wanting to come off as too friendly or too hostile quite yet.  
“Is it cool if I sit down?” Mikey asked, nodding to the empty seat that was across from him. He was grateful that Taran at least acknowledged him.

He could tell Taran was thinking to himself, debating whether he should or not "Yeah, that's fine." Taran said eventually.

Relieved, Mikey took a seat in front of him. The two sat in awkward silence for a few seconds before Mikey broke it. 

“How’s the book going?” Mikey shut his eyes in shame for a millisecond at the dumb question. 

“You came over here to talk about my book?” Taran raised an eyebrow at Mikey.

Mikey sighed to himself ' _I was just trying to make small talk so this would be less awkward_ '  
"No..How've you been?"

“I’ve been busy at work. Just got promoted a few weeks ago so they have me working extra hours.” He explained to Mikey. “What about you?”

"Congrats man. I found a place...been trying to work things out." Mikey looked down, still feeling bad about everything he said to Taran but not sure how to fix it.

“Thanks. Good for you. I’m happy you’re not living in a hotel anymore.” Taran replied wanting to seem proud of him but still keeping his distance. He wasn’t sure how Mikey was going to react this time. The last time they saw each other he wasn’t expecting Mikey to freak out on him but he did. He didn’t want it to happen again.

"Listen...I'm really sorry Taran. I shouldn't have said any of that shit I did. I didn't mean it, and I totally don't expect you to accept my apologize, but fuck I'm sorry. I regret everything I said that day." Mikey rambled while staring out the window, not able to directly look Taran in the eyes.

Taran stared him down for a moment which terrified Mikey because he didn’t say anything. Mikey began to mentally hit himself for even coming over to the table. 

“You really were a huge dick to me that day, I want you to know that. Everything you said was really shitty.” Taran kept his voice quiet but firm while Mikey kept staring out the window. He didn’t say anything, he just accepted it. It’s not like what he was saying wasn’t true. “I wanted to _help_ you because I saw myself and how lost I was when it happened to me. I didn’t want to see you go through that alone. Not everyone on this planet is against you man!” 

“I’m sorry, I’m just gonna go.” Mikey got up to start walking away. 

“Mikey this is exactly what I’m talking about, just _sit down_.” Taran sighed, rubbing his eyes. “You don’t have to do everything by yourself. You have to let people in to help you. And let those people stay there otherwise nothing is going to get better. I’m not saying this to try and be a dick to you. I’m just trying to be honest with you.”

Mikey froze for a second, legitimately shocked at how nice Taran was being. He slowly sat back down across from Taran, actually looking at him for the first time. "I was such an asshole I'm sorry."

"It's fine. Your emotions were just getting the best of you. Talk with me." Taran said. Mikey had just noticed how tired he looked.

“I don’t know, that really doesn’t excuse it. If there’s anything I can do make it up to you let me know and I’ll do it.” 

“I want you to just forget about it. It’s in the past and we’ve both aired out our frustrations. The only way to move is to move forward. Don’t let it drag you down.” Taran assured him.

Mikey nodded at him slowly "I know...I will. I just want you to know that I feel terrible and you didn't deserve that." Mikey made his point again

“Well, I wasn’t exactly in the right either so I’m sorry too.” Taran added. “We were both assholes that said mean things to each other. But we’re both sorry about it.”

Mikey forced a small smile. "That's fair".

“So you got yourself an apartment?” Taran smiled and changed the subject. “How’s bachelor life treating you?” He joked.

Mikey appreciated Taran trying to lighten up the conversation, but that reminder still pained him. "It's...it's going alright honestly."

“I bet it’s not the same as having annoying hotel clerk at your door 24/7.” Taran winked. “You’re gonna have to show it to me one day.”

Mikey could finally breathe easy about Taran's temper. "Yeah..Yeah of course you should come over some time.."

“You know I’m always down for that. I missed hanging out with you, Mikey.” Taran’s smile kept growing. 

Mikey's smile was starting to match his. "I missed it too. I think I promised you another trip to the arcade.."

“To get your ass kicked again in skeeball? Are you sure you’re prepared for disappointment?”

Mikey's cheeks were flushing a bit. "I wouldn't mind that kind of disappointment."

“I think they have new prizes in those crane game machines so I think I’ll have to win a new one for ya.”

"I actually..I still have him. Lil Taran" Mikey smiled shyly down at the table. "I couldn't leave him...rescued him from the trash that day."

Taran’s smile dropped a bit. “I’m sorry about that one too. I was just really upset. But, I’m glad that I was right about giving him to you. You gave him a much better home than I did.”

"Don't apologize. I said I didn't want it, and that was such a mistake because I love him.."

“Well, when we go back to the arcade again, after I kick your ass in skeeball, I’ll try to win him a little brother.”

"Sounds like a plan," Mikey gushed, glad Taran was willing to be this nice to him after all the shit he said.

“I hate to cut this short, but I told my mom I’d go to lunch with her today.” Taran frowned, wanting to stay with Mikey.

"It's fine man. This was still nice, catching up." Mikey said, drumming his fingers against the table. "You have my number now though, right? Text me sometime. You owe me that asskicking in skeeball."

“Ah, so quick to admitting defeat.” Taran smirked, standing up from the table and tossing his coffee in the trash can that was a few feet away.

Mikey stood too, figuring it would be awkward if he stayed. "Maybe so." He chuckled "See you soon then?" He asked as the two of them walked out of the shop, about to part ways.

“Yeah for sure!” Mikey thought about giving Taran a hug goodbye but decided against it. The next time they’d see each other, Mikey would give him a hug. Instead he settled on a smile and wave.


	7. Chapter 7

Mikey got a text from Taran by the next day " **Hey man!** " For Mikey, it showed up as a new thread, but it was rather awkward for Taran that had to send his message after not replying to the last one for nearly 2 months.

Mikey flopped down on his couch and smiled at his screen. He wasn’t expecting Taran to text him back so soon but he was definitely not upset with it. “ **Hey, what’s going on? :)** ” Mikey texted back and waited for the response with butterflies in his stomach. It reminded him of when he first started hanging out with Taran. He was grateful to feel that way again about him.

" **just hangin around, not doin much** " Taran responded pretty quickly. Before Mikey could even reply, he sent another text " **are you free? or when are you? you said you'd show me your apartment sometime** ". Mikey smiled at how excited Taran was about seeing him again.

“ **I got nothing going on today, you should come over and I’ll show it to ya** ” Mikey sent back with the smile never leaving his face. With Taran’s enthusiasm being as high as it was, Mikey had no trouble or nervousness with inviting him over.

Mikey texted his address in another message and it was only a few seconds later when Taran responded, " **hell yeah! be there in an hour or so?** "

“ **I’ll see ya then!** ” Mikey typed out quickly. He put his phone in his pocket and attempted to tidy up the already decently cleaned apartment for Taran.

When he had run out of things to do, Mikey sat on the couch anxiously waiting. He knew things were already better with Taran, but the whole thing still felt somewhat awkward. He hoped he could push past that though because _fuck_ he actually really liked him.

After what felt like an eternity, there was a knock at the door and the anxious feeling rose in him as he got up. He took a deep breath, unlocking and opening the front door. He was relieved to see a happy Taran on the other side of the door. "Hey man, come on in." Mikey led Taran in, trying to calm himself down.

“It’s so good to see you! It’s been forever!” Taran joked, his eyes observing Mikey’s apartment. Mikey then felt self conscious about his apartment and thought Taran wouldn’t like it and in return wouldn’t like him.

"Yeah it's good to see you." Mikey stood there awkwardly for a second. "Ready for the grand tour?" He laughed and gestured to his obviously small apartment.

“Uh, hell yeah I am! I like it already because of that Star Wars poster.” Taran nodded to the poster of Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back was framed above his couch. 

“Oh you like Star Wars?” Mikey raised one eyebrow. 

“I _love_ Star Wars. It’s my favorite everything!” He enthused.

Mikey smiled and showed Taran some of his nerdy collectables. He got bummed out for a second at the thought of seemingly being so close to Taran yet not knowing almost anything about him. Mikey was able to push the thought aside. ' _We're just starting everything over._ '  
Taran had to spend a few extra minutes in awe of all the cool things that Mikey had. He was in love with Mikey’s apartment. Taran and Mikey had more in common than they thought they did.

After Mikey had shown Taran around, they found themselves chilling on Mikey's couch "So what do you wanna do? Wanna hang out here? I know it's not much. We could go do something" Mikey proposed.

“Well what are our options? It is still pretty cold outside.” Taran peeked his head to look outside the apartment and seeing the city out the window.

Mikey looked around his living room "I mean we could watch a movie if you want. Your choice, I have a ton."

"Movie time sounds like fun to me." Taran shrugged. "What do you feel like watching?"

"How about Guardians of the Galaxy?" Mikey says from his crouched position, thumbing through his DVD's "It's been a while since I've seen that"

"I _love_ Guardians! Drax makes the damn movie." Taran smiled, excited about watching the movie.

"I know right?" Mikey laughed and popped the movie in. He returned to the couch, not exactly how close to Taran he should've been sitting.  
Taran draped his arm around the back of the couch and he sat back and got comfortable. Mikey tried not to notice that he scooted a few inches closer to him in the process. His face heated up for a moment before hitting play on the DVD.

Mikey payed attention to the movie for the most part but he could tell by about half an hour in that Taran almost had his arm around him. He wasn't _opposed_ to it, but he still found it weird how nice Taran was being considering how much of an ass Mikey was earlier. He tensed for a moment when he felt his arm simply touch him. His back was on fire where Taran's arm was brushed against it. The tension was brief as he relaxed and Taran got a little bit closer to him. His heart was beating out of his chest and he had no clue what was going on in the movie at this point. He tried to focus his breathing so Taran wouldn't notice him being so affected.

A few minutes later, Mikey got distracted by Taran's laugh and it had to have been the sweetest thing he had ever heard. With that, he settled into Taran's arm and he wasn't sure why or how this was happening, but he was okay that it was. Mikey bit his tongue to try and hide his wide grin. Taran waited a few more minutes before his entire arm was wrapped around Mikey's shoulder. Mikey wasn't sure if Taran had meant to do it or if he felt pressured because Mikey settled in. But when Taran's thumb started brushing up and down Mikey's arm he knew that Taran was okay with everything.

Out of the corner of his eye, Mikey could tell Taran was staring at him. He felt somewhat self-conscious, but got butterflies nonetheless. He wasn't sure if he should just ignore it, or acknowledge him.

Mikey turned to look at Taran. "I think this is my favorite Marv--" 

Taran couldn't take it anymore. He leaned into Mikey and grabbed his ahold of his face and directed him in for a deep kiss. Taran could honestly say he felt a lot of different feelings when Mikey kissed him back.  
Mikey was surprised at first, but damn if it wasn't everything he'd ever dreamed of. _This_ is what he'd been waiting for with Taran. He relaxed and brought one hand up to Taran's face, kissing him slowly and never wanting it to end.  
Taran smiled into the kiss and his hands went down Mikey's back while he deepened the kiss. Mikey thought for sure that everywhere Taran’s hands touched his spine it would leave burns.

When they eventually broke the kiss, they awkwardly looked at each other, almost expecting something to happen. When nothing did, and the moment passed, Mikey relaxed into Taran's grasp again. "Wow.."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt you. What were you gonna say?" Taran joked giving Mikey's arm a squeeze. His was slightly still in shock of what he just did so he didn't know what to say.

"I...I don't remember honestly" Mikey felt his face heat up as he looked up at Taran. He noticed the twinkle in his eyes. The way his face crinkled when he smiled. This was the first time they've actually been close and Mikey couldn't help but fall for him more.

Taran made sure to remember this moment; where he was, what he was feeling, what was going on around him. He couldn't help but feel drawn to Mikey. From the moment he walked into the hotel beat up from ending things with Alex, he had the urge to be around him. His mind played a montage of their happy memories together in their short time of knowing each other. When he first brought Mikey breakfast, or when they were at the arcade, to now. His mind then went to the not so happy memories. Like when Mikey and him got into the fight, or he didn't respond to Mikey apologizing for it. Or when Mikey thought that they were soulmates. It pained him to think about that memory and look at Mikey now. He knew that they weren't soulmates, but Jesus Christ, it fucking sucked. They had to endure shitty and even abusive relationships to end up so happy with someone they weren't supposed to be with. Taran just smiled behind it. 

"Maybe if we do that again it'll come back to you? You know, it might help you remember."

Mikey bit his lip and leaned in slightly, "I think it could.”

Taran grinned and closed the distance between them again. It didn’t take long for them to get back into the groove of kissing each other. Mikey felt Taran’s fingers running through his hair making Mikey smile against him.

Mikey bit gently at his lip and brought one hand up to grab his face. Everything was finally feeling right again. For the first time in months, Mikey felt something that wasn't shame or guilt or anger. It was just Taran.  
The two of them shared their embrace not knowing just how much it meant to them. They had forgotten about the movie and concentrated on each other. Taran moaned almost inaudibly at Mikey’s actions.  
Taran advanced just a bit, pressing Mikey against the back of the couch and keeping one hand running through his hair, which he could already tell that Mikey loved. It was quiet, but Taran also recognized a quiet moan from Mikey as he continued to kiss him. Taran was a little bit surprised when Mikey eagerly deepened the kiss between them. He wasn’t upset with it by any means, he reciprocated it. Taran was trying to remain dominant in their kiss but Mikey was fighting for his spot too.  
Their hands wandered and they kissed for a while longer until Mikey pulled off. Both of them were somewhat breathless and delirious but in the best possible way. Mikey's mind still had some catching up to do about the whole situation.

“I don’t know about you, but I think I like _that_ more than the arcade.” Taran joked once he regained his breath back.

Mikey nodded, still staring at him and taken aback by everything "I'll say..." He shyly squeezed at Taran's hip where his hand was still settled.

“Mikey, I’m sorry if this is weird because we still don’t really know each other that well but I really like you. I can understand if you don’t want to but I was wondering if you’d like to go on a proper date sometime.” Mikey could see the nervousness in Taran’s eyes for his response.

"I'd...I would love to.." Mikey said softly, trying to respress a smile. "We should try this".

“I’m so happy to hear you say that.” Taran grinned and gave him a quick kiss on the lips with just as much butterflies flying in his stomach as the first time.

Mikey didn't hide his grin this time as he nodded. "I'm happy too..About all of this."

“I’m happy you came back to talk to me at the coffee shop. If you didn’t...none of this would’ve happened. I can’t thank you enough for doing that.” Taran grabbed a hold of Mikey’s hand and rubbed the top of it with his thumb. 

Mikey kept thinking about everything and how lucky he was that Taran forgave him. How lucky that he bumped into him. How lucky that he still cared about him. "I'm glad I did too. Thanks for talking to me."

“Everything happens for a reason, right? We keep getting pulled to each other even when we’re far apart. Maybe there’s a reason these things keep happening to us, ya know? A reason for _us_.”

Mikey looked down to their hands. He didn't really want to get his hopes up like _last time_ but he was starting to think Taran was right. They didn't necessarily know each other for very long, but it felt so absolutely right. "Yeah..I think you're right"


	8. Chapter 8

Mikey and Taran walked into the arcade again months after their first visit. Mikey’s eyes flashed to the skeeball machine that Taran proved his skills on, the claw machine where Lil Taran was won, and the concession stand. His mind briefly went back to when he thought he saw color again. But he pushed it away because he didn’t want to think about essentially the cause of them not talking. Instead he watched Taran’s face light up being in the nostalgic atmosphere again.

Mikey breathed a bit more easily, taking Taran's hand in his and walking around now that they were properly on a date. They wandered around the arcade for a little bit until Taran walked ahead of Mikey, almost dragging him to the air hockey table. "It's been ages since I've played on one of these bad boys. You wanna go for a round or two?"

“You’re on. I used to play these all the time when I was younger.” Mikey fished out two quarters from his pocket and inserted them in the game. He went to his goal and grabbed his striker and the puck that was in the goal return slot. He placed it on the table and shot it down the table.

Taran grabbed his own and crouched over the table for maximum leverage. "Just because you're cute doesn't mean I'm not gonna kick your ass." He caught Mikey off guard as the puck _almost_ went into his goal.  
With a quick save by Mikey he sent the puck back to Taran. 

“My cuteness is not a handicap in this game. That’s only in ping pong.” He joked. After a few times back and forth with the puck, Mikey finally scored with an unanticipated assist from Taran. 

“Do you want me to take it easy on you because _you’re_ cute?” Mikey teased back to Taran while he was grabbing the puck.

"I'm sure I can handle that on my own thank you very much. The winning thing, not being cute." Taran grinned as he went back into game mode. It got pretty intense and there were some close shots. Mikey glanced up to see that they were tied at 3-3 and the next shot won.

With deep concentration Taran hit the puck down the center of the board hoping that Mikey would move his striker just enough for him to score. Mikey saved the puck and hit it angling it to bounce off the sideboard and into Taran’s goal. With a huge smile, he imitated the sound of the buzzer on the machine announcing that the game was over and he’d won. 

“HELL YEAH!” Mikey exclaimed, throwing his hands up in joy.

Taran crossed his arms in defeat "Damn it! So close too. Good game man." He said, trying not to sound like a sore loser although it was a bit obvious that he was anyways. "I should've let you go easy on me because I was cute." Taran walked over to where Mikey was and held him teasingly by the waist.

“It probably would’ve helped you out.” Mikey smirked to Taran as he leaned into his hold. He looked in his eyes and saw the gray sparkle in them that Mikey loved to see.  
Taran kissed the top of his head as he looked around "What do you wanna do now? Looks like they added some games since last time."

Mikey searched around the room for possible games to play and stopped when he saw a zombie shooting game.   
“You wanna go kill some zombies?” He asked hoping Taran would say yes.

" _How_ could I say no to that?" Taran got a wicked grin on his face, grabbing one of the plastic guns as Mikey put in the money and stood next to him.

“You know, I don’t know if you know this about me, Mikey, but if there was an apocalypse, I would survive it.” Taran said matter-of-factly as he shot the plastic shotgun and got a perfect headshot on the zombie. 

“Yeah,” Mikey cocked the gun and did the same thing did to another zombie. “Well then, you and I should stick together in an apocalypse.” He smiled to Taran who seemed impressed with his shot.

"Yeah we should..stick together I mean." Taran said, not caring how cheesy it sounded, or even how strange it was juxtaposed with the zombie game.  
The two finished the chapters of the game with a high score. They shot their initials in the high score board and congratulated themselves with a hard high five. 

“Damn! We dominated this game!” Taran cheered.

"Yeah we did!" Mikey put his gun back into the holster "Those zombies had no chance against us."

“You know, I think Lil Taran needs a little brother.” Taran decided, walking over to the claw machine where he had previously won the stuffed T Rex for Mikey. Mikey followed close behind and stood on the side of the machine to observe the stuffed toys on the inside.

"I think you're right" Mikey said as he spotted one that would be perfect. "You want me to try? I feel like I have to repay you."

“Are you gonna try to win me a Lil Mikey?” Taran gasped in amusement at the offer and put his hands over his heart. “Be my guest!” He said before switching places with Mikey.

Mikey blushed at his comment as he put in the change and started to position the claw over the pastel alpaca just off to the right. "Does that look right?" He asked Taran who was watching from the side to check the other angle 

"Yeah man go for it."  
He hit the button and the claw went down on the alpaca. It paused before wrapping around its body and bringing it up and to the prize chute on the first try.

Taran was shamelessly excited about Mikey's accomplishment. "You got him!"

Mikey bent down to grab the plush out of the shoot and handed it to Taran, grinning all the while. "You ordered one Lil Mikey?"

“I love him, man! Thank you so much” Taran grinned and gave Mikey a hug. “Now I have to come over all the time so Lil Mikey and Lil Taran can hang out.”

"I guess if you _have_ to." Mikey smiled up at him, still amazed at his luck with the whole situation. "But really, any time.."

“You really are the best. I’m so lucky to have you.” Taran replied wholeheartedly. His days were so much better with Mikey in them. He truly did feel like he’d won the lottery with him.

"You wanna grab a bite to eat before we head out?" Mikey grabbed one of Taran's hands, swinging it absentmindedly as they walked.

“Yeah for sure. They have really good soft pretzels here. What do you want? I’ll get it for you.”

"That sounds good actually! I'll hold a booth" Mikey sat down before Taran left again. Taran of course gave him Lil Mikey to hold while he went to grab some food.

Taran came back a few minutes later with two soft pretzels, two cups of cheese and a few slushies. He set them all on the table before sliding in his seat. 

“Blue raspberry, right?” Taran double checked before handing it to Mikey. 

“Yeah, how did you know?”

“I remember what you tell me.” Taran shrugged and took a sip of his drink.

Mikey could feel his face heating up. It was cheesy but the fact that Taran remembered something like that was adorable. He ripped off a piece of his pretzel and dunked it into the cheese. "Mmm, not bad," he remarked, mouth still half-full after taking a bite.

“I know all the soft pretzel hot spots of New York.” Taran joked. Mikey chuckled and looked up to him to respond but was caught off guard. Mikey saw a small change in Taran’s eyes. The normal sparkling gray he was used to seeing was now transforming. Mikey blinked to make sure he wasn’t seeing things so there wouldn’t be a repeat of the last time. When he blinked, he saw Taran’s eyes were a crystal blueish green color. His eyes scanned the room to see if anything else was in color, but it was only Taran’s eyes.

"What's wrong?" Taran asked when he noticed Mikey squinting and examining him. "You okay, or do I just have some cheese on my chin?" Taran only started to get a bit concerned after Mikey didn't respond right away.

“Do you remember last time we were here? And how I saw color? Or thought I saw color?” Mikey cautiously questioned, watching Taran’s eyes to see if the color would go away.  
Taran leaned back in his seat, not really liking where this was headed. "Yeah...Did you think you saw something? I'm sure it's just your brain tricking you into something." He spoke his mind.

“It’s not going away. It’s...your eyes are blue. They’re the prettiest blue I’ve ever fucking seen.” Mikey explained with his voice breaking a bit describing his eyes. By the sound of Taran’s response, he didn’t knew he didn’t see anything either again. It was killing Mikey all over again that he didn’t see it too.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Taran wanted to push past the subject, but was actually concerned. "You don't have a fever or anythi-"

" _Taran_." Mikey's voice was a bit shakier this time. "Why don't you just believe me? I _know_ what I saw. I know what I'm seeing."

“Because Mikey,” Taran erupted with his voice firm. “We don’t _get_ our colors back. They’re gone. Forever. No matter how much it sucks or how much we want it to change, it won’t. There are no ‘second chances’ when it comes to soul mates. Me and you are just never going to have that again. So we may as well get used to it and move on.”

Mikey stared down at the table, noticing a tear fall when he blinked. " _I'm not crazy_. You said it yourself. It's possible. I swear it's true. Why won't you believe me?" Mikey's voice was starting to sound desperate but when he looked back up, the color never faltered.

“I was just saying that, man! You just lost it and Alex when I first met you, I was only trying to make you feel better. It just _can’t happen_.” Taran confessed. 

“Well I’m seeing this now and it won’t go away. Can you just...I don’t know...try to believe that it could happen? For me?”

Taran took a deep breath, wanting to believe Mikey in the back of his mind but not wanting to raise his hopes. "Listen. I'm sorry. I don't know what to tell you. Why don't I see it then? If we're meant for each other then where's my hint of color?" Taran tried to keep his voice low as to not cause a scene. It had a similar desperate quality to it now.

“Look, I don’t know why you can’t see it. I’m telling you what I saw. Twice. You tell _me_ why this keeps happening. All I know is you told me not to lose faith on it so I didn’t. And now I can see the color of your eyes. There’s gotta be something there man.” Mikey’s mind was racing with new thought out possibilities that he would see Taran’s eyes and he wouldn’t.

Mikey reached his hands across the table, grabbing Taran's in his " _Please_. Look me in the eye and say you don't feel anything. Because I feel it. I can _see_ it and I want you on this journey with me,"

“Mikey—“

“ _Please_.”

Taran sighed heavily before doing as he was told. He was starting to have regrets about telling Mikey about it months ago. But he also really cared about Mikey so if he had to look him in the eyes and tell him he didn’t see anything, he would. He’d be there to bring him back like before. It hurt every fiber in Taran to think about how much he’d be hurting Mikey

Taran squeezed Mikey's hands lightly. His eyes traveled upwards, slowly, knowing eye contact would nearly kill him. When his eyes finally did meet Mikey's, he felt a jolt of electricity run through his body. _They were a vibrant blue_. A blue that Taran hadn't seen in years and was probably the most beautiful thing he's ever seen. "Mikey oh my god.."

“What do you see?” Mikey eagerly asked, hoping that he would say that he saw the color too. He knew that there was a reason why he was seeing color again. He knew that Taran was a part of the reason why he was seeing it. They were always being brought back together for something. It was no coincidence that the two times he did see color again were when he was with Taran. He just needed Taran to see.

Taran was at a loss for words but eventually he got it out, "Mikey..your eyes. Wow.." 

Mikey's face broke into a huge smile. He knew what Taran meant by that and what he saw "They're blue, right?"

“They’re...yeah, they’re blue alright!” Taran nodded, staring in amazement. He didn’t want to look away incase it was just some sort of trick his head was playing on him. He didn’t ever want to forget what Mikey’s eyes looked like.

Mikey nodded his head slowly in return, so fucking happy that everything was finally turning out. "You and I Taran, there's a reason for us..."

“Everything that happened was _for us_. Everything with Alex to right now is for us. All that shit happened to bring us together. There was something in the back of my head that told me to trust you from the beginning, or to try and talk to you again after our fight, and look where it got us.” Mikey held onto Taran’s hands tightly, startling Taran for a moment because he forget that they were holding hands.

Taran finally found his voice and the look on his face transformed from astonishment to one of pure joy. "I think so too..I'm so glad you're here in my life, and I'm so grateful I   
get to be in yours. Mikey you don't understand how happy I was when I realized we still had a chance. I'm so happy..Happy about us."

“Sometimes things have to fall apart to get better. I’m glad that they did, otherwise I’d still be miserable with Alex only fucking dreaming that I’d meet someone like you. Thank you for bringing me leftover breakfast when we met otherwise none of this would’ve happened. You are such an amazing person, Taran.”

Taran wiped away a tear with one hand, while still holding Mikey's in his other. "You know, that's the best decision I've ever made..I’m sorry I didn’t believe you when you said you saw colors. I was so adamant about it not being true because I know how much it hurt the first time and I couldn’t ever imagine putting either of us through it a second   
time. I should’ve just believed you the first time you saw the it. We would’ve had those few months we spent apart, together.”

"Well I'm here now. Listen. I overreacted and we both made some mistakes but we're together now and I couldn't be happier." Mikey looked at him across the table, although his vision was a bit blurry at this point.

“You sure are something else, Mikey Day.” Taran replied with a smile to Mikey. He leaned across the table to Mikey to give him a kiss. It was simple yet, there was something different about it. Even though neither one would say anything about it, they both felt a force of safeness and love that neither had experienced before.  
When Mikey pulled back and blinked his eyes open, he could see the color spreading from Taran's eyes. It drained into his face, and then the surrounding area. The arcade was even more vibrant than he ever could've imagined and it was like a dream come true.

“Holy shit.” Mikey muttered in amazement watching the arcade light up. His eyes scanned the room taking in every familiar shade that had been missing from his life for months. “Oh my god!” He laughed in joy. 

“I’m in love with you, Mikey,” Mikey looked back to Taran who’s eyes hadn’t left Mikey since they kissed. “I always will be. With or without colors.”

"I love you too" Mikey stammered out, somewhat at a loss for words. "Taran, look. This is all happening for us.There's no other way I'd rather have this turn out. I love you so much." Mikey moved out of his seat and joined Taran on his side of the booth, wrapping him in the tightest hug.

“I’m glad that me and you are meant to be together. Everything just feels right this time around.” Taran admitted to Mikey when they pulled apart from the hug.

"It does." Mikey stayed leaning against him, but turned so he could look him in the eyes, "It feels perfect Taran."


End file.
